SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN LAUNCHES BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN DEMANDING JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF DR. ROBERT ANDERSON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 19, 2021

SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN LAUNCHES BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN TO HOLD THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ACCOUNTABLE FOR DECADES OF HEINOUS SEXUAL ABUSE AGAINST ATHLETES & STUDENTS

Advocacy group unveils billboards in Ann Arbor directing Michigan residents to sign petition calling on University of Michigan Regents to seek justice for victims of Dr. Robert E. Anderson

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – Today SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN announced it is launching a new campaign for Michiganders to directly call on University of Michigan Regents demanding they bring justice to the hundreds of U-M athletes and students who endured decades of sexual abuse at the hands of top university physician Dr. Robert E. Anderson. To further bring attention to the gross negligence by University officials that allowed more than 850 students and athletes to be raped, abused, and preyed upon by Dr. Anderson, Spotlight Michigan is placing two billboards (seen above) in Ann Arbor at Liberty & First Street and Maple St. & Dexter Rd.

Spotlight Michigan continues to provide a voice to the community of victims, families, friends, and University of Michigan alumni that demand accountability from the University for its failure to protect its students. It is also imperative that protocols and procedures be updated and improved to ensure such systemic failures that allowed for both the abuse and the coverup never happen again.

For 37 years, Dr. Robert E. Anderson served as a prominent figure at the University of Michigan in various positions of authority including Director of University Health Service, and team physician for the Athletic Department which included the Football and Wrestling teams. Despite official sexual misconduct complaints dating back as far as 1975, University leadership continued to employ, promote, and protect Anderson – reassigning him numerous times to new roles where he would continue to abuse more Wolverine athletes and students.

“These billboards serve as a reminder that the unspeakable acts committed by Dr. Anderson are still having a lasting impact on the students and athletes who were funneled to this predator by school and team officials. The very man responsible for the wellbeing of these young athletes instead preyed on their innocence and shattered their trust. What's most concerning is that more than 40 years after the first report of abuse was filed, University officials still refuse to admit the concerted coverup that continued to keep Dr. Anderson inside an athletic exam room" said Spotlight Michigan spokesperson Autria Lindsay.

For decades, University of Michigan leaders betrayed the trust of the very students they were charged to protect. It’s time to hold University of Michigan officials accountable to ensure future Wolverines aren’t subjected to the same abuse.

Click here to sign the petition.

To learn more about Spotlight Michigan visit our website at www.spotlightmichigan.com